Adrian Fedkiw
Ben Simmons is the exception. He didn’t need college.
Friday night marked the debut of Showtime’s “One & Done” documentary, which took a behind-the-scenes look into Simmons’ journey leading up to the NBA Draft.
It was eye-opening and showcased how much of a problem the NBA’s one-and-done rule can create. The NBA implemented it in 2005 as part of the collective bargaining agreement, requiring players to be at least one year removed from high school prior to becoming eligible for the NBA Draft.
As a college basketball junkie, I immediately loved the decision because I was finally able to see what these top high school players could do at the college level. Imagine getting to see LeBron James play one year in college? We didn’t get to see that, but were able to see one year of Simmons.
But this documentary really portrays how much of a burden that one year caused.
Ten years ago when the rule was put in place, too many high schoolers were putting their names into the NBA Draft when they had no business in doing so. That’s what the rule was meant for, not for the cream of the crop like a Simmons and Kevin Durant. Fast forward 10 years later, however, now we’re seeing too many freshmen entering the NBA Draft when they have no business in doing so.
Are we going to see another rule change within the next decade?
Here’s a trailer for the film.
The documentary was an honest and real representation of the pitfalls that accompanied Simmons during his lone season at LSU. In the end, you almost felt sorry for him.
Crazy to think about considering I’ll never sniff the money he’s making.
He chose to go to college, it is not mandated by the CBA.
The CBA states that you need to be one year removed out of high school, which is what I said. Don’t have to go to college, he could’ve played overseas, but you’re not going to take the year off.